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Instruction

English as a Second Language (ESL)

English as a Second Language (ESL) programs are designed to assist students in communicating effectively in English, both in and out of school.

A number of resources and services are available to schools to help limited English proficient (LEP) students demonstrate their ability to understand, read and write English in order to function and be successful in school and in American society.

Standards & Assessment

Adoption of the WIDA ELD Standards

Section 3113 (b)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), requires state agencies to establish standards and objectives for raising the level of English proficiency in the four recognized domains of speaking, listening, read, and writing, and that are aligned with achievement of the challenging state academic content and student academic achievement standards.

On March 19, 2008, the Board of Education, adopted the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) ELP Standards. In 2012, WIDA released the Amplification of the WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards to support for college- and career-ready state content-area standards.

Implementation of the WIDA ELD Standards

VDOE offers the following professional development opportunities and technical assistance resources to assist educators in incorporating the ELD standards into lesson planning and classroom instruction:

WIDA Academy: Creating Language-Focused College and Career Ready Units

WIDA 101: Introduction to WIDA Standards and Assessments

Technical Assistance on the VDOE Web site under the English as a Second Language (ESL) Instruction Web page include but are not limited to:

WIDA English Language Development (ELD) PK-12 Standards The World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) Consortium is a non-profit cooperative of states working together to meet the federal requirements for English-language learners (ELLs) with innovative standards and assessments.